Having won the battle for dominion over God’s compound, it appears the leaders of the faithful are at odds as to what to do next.
On Thursday morning, following the complete capitulation of the Netanyahu cabinet, which had removed the metal foundations for security cameras at the Lions’ Gate, Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, head of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, told Muslim worshipers to continue praying outside the mosque until a decision was made on how to act next.
At the same time, according to Channel 10 News, the Jerusalem Mufti announced that, since the government has backed down, it is now permissible, even recommended to return to the compound and do the kneeling towards Mecca thing.
Then, a short while later, the Mufti announced the return to the Temple Mount would take place in an organized fashion for the Friday prayer. But first, the Mufti wants to ensure there are no vestigial Zionist security measures left on the Temple Mount.
Police are preparing for a huge celebratory riot, fireworks, stones, Molotov cocktails – seeing as the metal detectors won’t be there to help keep those items outside.
It now appears that this is the final decision.
Meanwhile, in a statement also issued Thursday morning, Hamas praised the people of Jerusalem for their steadfastness and sacrifice in the struggle to remove the metal detectors and cameras “erected by the occupation at the gates of Al-Aqsa two weeks ago.”
Hamas called on the people of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the interior (that’s Israeli Arabs) to reach Al-Aqsa to preserve what had been achieved so far, and announced that the battle for Al-Aqsa had not yet been completed.
The Hamas statement added that the victory illustrates the weakness of the entity (that’s the State of Israel) against the will of “our nation which years for freedom.”